Wrapped in pastel ice cream
hues, the Dream Wanderer is Marler’s most recent project as Flatsitter, an interdisciplinary media arts
endeavor that is often collaborative
but has become more of a nom de
guerre for Marler. A step-van outfitted with a pair of virtual reality
set-ups, guests enter Dream Wanderer two at a time, taking seats
side by side before selecting hand-drawn tarot cards that work like an
old school choose-your-own-adven-ture paperback. Once a guest dons
the bulky Oculus Rift headset, noise
canceling headphones, and umpire-like chest cover, Marler begins
orchestrating the experience from
a deck of computers located near
the front of the van. Handcrafted
thematic material is pumped into
the system, providing a complex
visual and audio tour augmented
by an occasional real-world interjection of scent delivered by Marler
via incense to round out the sensory experience.

Unlike Google Cardboard or any
of the pricier virtual reality experiences readily available to consumers, Dream Wanderer offers
an interpretation of the real world
through the eyes of a media artist. Despite its relative accessibility,
VR is still enough of an unknown
that in today’s predictable world,
guests sometimes describe an initial feeling of claustrophobia or
nervousness about the unfamiliar
experience. But take a deep breath.
In the dark, the combination of
music and looping commentary
begins, and images float and flash
around you—you’re soaring, running, or standing still. You can look
up or down and as far to both sides
as your neck will crane. All around
you is this place—this church, this
bedroom, this night sky—and in
your ears are the voices telling this
particular Dream Wanderer story just above the whispers of Marler’s heavily layered soundtrack and

Spotlight/Flatsitter:Not all those who wander are lostBY CHRISTA GLENNIE SEYCHEWOften the solitary one finds grace for himself. — “The Wanderer”As he lounges outside Gene McCarthy’s in Buffalo’s First Ward, artist KyleMarler is sporting a tan that surpasses most seen on Western New Yorkers atthis time of year. He’s just returned from the South after a few months awayon the road, the first leg of a yearlong journey of his Dream Wanderer.